So, Bulls fans, what’s the general consensus now? Is it even worth the argument anymore? Do we really need to waste our time arguing why Gar Forman and John Paxson are incompetent for trading fan favorite, Jimmy Butler?
All the questions above can be easily answered. This was the right move for the Chicago Bulls. The man that loved to say he was just a humble kid from Tomball, became one of the biggest divas in the NBA.
As Jimmy’s Chicago Bulls tenure came to an end, he had rubbed a lot of the young guys the wrong way and veteran Rajon Rondo as well. The last season in Chicago saw Jimmy call out Coach Fred Hoiberg and the younger guys on the roster for their lack of a winning attitude.
So, fast forward to the 2017 NBA Draft that saw the Chicago Bulls trade Jimmy Butler for Lauri Markkanen, who made the All-NBA First Rookie team, Kris Dunn, who was the 5th pick in the 2016 NBA draft and also had a legitimate shot of winning the Most Improved Player of the year award before breaking his face on the court. Also included in that trade was Zach Lavine, arguably the most athletic two-guard in the NBA today.
Three young players who have the ability to grow together and raise some hell in this questionable Eastern Conference.
After Jimmy’s departure from Chicago, he reunited with Head Coach Tom Thibodeau in Minnesota with the Timberwolves. Jimmy went on to play 59 games for the franchise earning another All-Star nod and leading the Wolves to their first playoff appearance in 13 years.
| Season | Age | Tm | Lg | Pos | G | GS | MP | FG | FGA | FG% | 3P | 3PA | 3P% | 2P | 2PA | 2P% | eFG% | FT | FTA | FT% | ORB | DRB | TRB | AST | STL | BLK | TOV | PF | PTS |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2017-18 | 28 | MIN | NBA | SG | 59 | 59 | 36.7 | 7.4 | 15.6 | .474 | 1.2 | 3.4 | .350 | 6.2 | 12.2 | .509 | .512 | 6.2 | 7.2 | .854 | 1.3 | 4.0 | 5.3 | 4.9 | 2.0 | 0.4 | 1.8 | 1.3 | 22.2 |
Provided by Basketball-Reference.com: View Original Table
Though the T-Wolves made the playoffs, they dealt with a lot of in-house issues last year. According to Joe Cowley of the Chicago Sun-Times, Butler is “all but fed up with the nonchalant attitude of his younger teammates,” specifically center Karl-Anthony Towns.
| Season | Age | Tm | Lg | Pos | G | GS | MP | FG | FGA | FG% | 3P | 3PA | 3P% | 2P | 2PA | 2P% | eFG% | FT | FTA | FT% | ORB | DRB | TRB | AST | STL | BLK | TOV | PF | PTS |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2017-18 | 22 | MIN | NBA | C | 82 | 82 | 35.6 | 7.8 | 14.3 | .545 | 1.5 | 3.5 | .421 | 6.3 | 10.8 | .585 | .596 | 4.2 | 4.9 | .858 | 2.9 | 9.4 | 12.3 | 2.4 | 0.8 | 1.4 | 1.9 | 3.5 | 21.3 |
The man they call “KAT” was a first-time all-star last year and averaged some impressive numbers in his third season. Whatever the issue was with Jimmy, it seems to have to carry over to this off-season.
So, with that being said, Jimmy has also gotten into it with Andrew Wiggins. According to Sean Deveney of the Sporting News.
“Sources familiar with the situation told Sporting News that Butler is uncertain about playing with Wiggins — Butler had problems last season with Wiggins, his work ethic and his approach on the defensive end of the floor. Thibodeau has had similar problems with Wiggins in the past, too, and he had some hope that bringing a tough-minded veteran like Butler into the locker room would spur Wiggins to improve. It didn’t.”
After getting into it with the two young stars Minnesota has it seems these players can’t wait to see Jimmy off. Andrew Wiggins brother, Nick Wiggins posted this on social media.
It seems that Nick Wiggins (brother of the Wolves SF Andrew Wiggins) is quite excited to hear Jimmy is leaving town 🤭👀 pic.twitter.com/xyxXaQhfeH
— •Association Addict• (@AA_BallTalk) September 19, 2018
Jimmy Butler then responded on social media with this.
Jimmy Butler fires back at Andrew Wiggins’ brother, who tweeted “Hallelujah” when Butler announced he wanted to be traded. 👀 pic.twitter.com/D2SU2zUibF
— Legion Hoops (@LegionHoops) September 20, 2018
Needless to say, GarPax made the right decision with Jimmy. Were they one step ahead of everyone when they traded him? Or was it because they didn’t want to pay him a supermax contract? Or was it because of the problems he caused in the locker room? It seems that they knew Jimmy was either going to leave or keep causing turmoil in the locker room, which is why the moved on from him. So, kudos.
What was the famous line Joakim Noah said about the Miami Heat back in the day? That they were “Hollywood as hell.” It seems that the fame and the location for Jimmy is the most important thing. Jimmy has chosen the Brooklyn Nets, New York Knicks and the Los Angeles Clippers as his trade destinations.
Now, it isn’t too far-fetched that Jimmy and other elite NBA players are planning to team up in one of these cities, but that’s just something NBA fans are going to have to wait and see.
Now, to throw my opinion in here, just real quick.
I am so glad that the Bulls picked a lane and traded a guy who seems to have an ME first attitude. Bye, Jimmy. I will gladly sit here and watch the Bulls try and reach their potential over reading and hearing about you causing more problems in a locker room.
I do want to say that Jimmy is one hell of a player, but I’ll just leave this here.
Jimmy Butler may be on the move soon but @LegsESPN has a warning for #Knicks #Clippers and #Nets fans. pic.twitter.com/bXOgNnVWJ5
— SiriusXM NBA Radio (@SiriusXMNBA) September 19, 2018
